Shifting Moon

Chapter 218 - 218: Born in Blood

(Third Person Limited — Thomas)Thomas knew peace never lasted long in the Cullen house anymore, if it ever had.

It came in pieces. A quiet hour. A half-finished conversation. Leah laughing at something Seth said from across the room. Bella managing a few careful sips from a cup without puking. Edward smiling at his wife's stomach like he had finally found something there besides doom.

Then the house would remember what it was waiting for.

Death.

Birth.

Maybe both.

Bella was doing better.

That was the dangerous part.

The blood helped. No one could deny it anymore. Human blood, warmed and handed to her in careful portions, brought color back into her lips. It steadied her voice. It let her sit up longer. It let her joke, weakly, about how everyone stared at her like she was a science project.

It was not enough to make her well.

But it was enough to make everyone hope.

Edward had changed after he heard the child.

Not completely. Not enough to erase the terror. But enough.

He spent more time with his hand resting lightly over Bella's stomach, head tilted, listening to something no one else could hear. Sometimes his face softened so suddenly that Thomas had to look away.

One afternoon, Edward murmured, "It's trying not to move."

Bella's eyes opened. "What?"

Edward looked at her stomach, then at her face. His expression folded into something too tender to be grief and too sad to be happiness.

"The baby," he said quietly. "It's trying to only move when you're comfortable. Less when you hurt." His thumb brushed over the stretched fabric of Bella's shirt. "I don't think it's thought. Not exactly. But it knows. In some way, it knows you're fragile."

Rosalie, sitting at Bella's other side, went still.

Bella's hand covered Edward's.

"She's not trying to hurt me," Bella whispered.

"No," Edward said, and his voice nearly broke around the word. "No, love. I don't think she is."

That mattered.

Thomas could see it land in the room, changing the air around the child.

Not safe.

Not harmless.

Not normal.

But innocent.

That made everything harder.

It would have been easier if the baby were only a monster. Easier if Bella were only a victim. Easier if Edward could hate what was killing her.

Nothing was ever that clean.

Jacob had come back, too.

Not all the way. Not like before.

He spent most of his time outside in wolf form now, circling the edge of the property or lying somewhere beneath the trees where the others could still sense him. Human Jacob carried too much hurt. Wolf Jacob could keep moving. Could keep his grief in muscle and instinct instead of words and facial expressions he couldn't control.

He still came into the house occasionally to see Bella, though.

Never for long.

He would stand in the doorway, look at her like she was something he was losing one breath at a time, and then leave before whatever lived inside him spilled out.

Bella always watched him go.

Edward never stopped him.

That was one more thing no one talked about.

Leah had been quieter since returning from Sue's. Not unhappy. Just thoughtful in a way that made Thomas watch her more than he meant to. She ate when Edythe told her to. She rested when Sue texted and threatened to come drag her back to La Push if she didn't. She smiled sometimes without catching herself first.

But whenever Bella groaned, Leah's smile vanished.

Edythe noticed too.

Of course she did.

The next afternoon, Carlisle checked the blood supply and frowned.

Thomas hated that frown. It was the one Carlisle used when the situation had not become worse yet, but only because worse had not found the right door.

"We're going through it faster than expected. I need to go get more." Carlisle said.

Bella made a face from the couch. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," Carlisle answered automatically.

Esme was already reaching for her coat. "I'll come with you."

Edward looked up sharply. "Both of you?"

"We won't be long," Carlisle said. "There's enough here for tonight, but I don't want to wait until we are out. Not with the rate she's taking it."

Rosalie's arm tightened behind Bella's shoulders. "I can watch her."

Edward's expression flickered.

Not doubt. Not exactly.

Rosalie had been Bella's fiercest guard through all of it. She had sat beside Bella while Bella drank blood. She had brought the cups. She had adjusted pillows and snapped at anyone who upset her. If there was anyone in the house besides Edward who seemed steady around the blood Bella needed, it was Rosalie.

Still, Thomas saw Edward's eyes move to Jasper.

Jasper stood near the far wall, Seth beside him. He had gotten better over the last few days, but fresh blood in the house still pulled at him. Seth's presence helped. So did distance.

"I'll stay upstairs," Jasper said before anyone asked.

Seth nodded quickly. "I'll keep him company."

Jasper gave Seth a dry look. "You make it sound noble."

"It is noble," Seth said. "I'm very entertaining, so my time is precious."

Thomas almost smiled.

Almost.

Carlisle looked at Edward. "Call me if anything changes."

Edward nodded. "I will."

Carlisle's eyes moved to Thomas next.

That look said more than the words did.

Thomas understood.

If something went wrong before Carlisle returned, Edward would be the hands.

Thomas would be the wall between Bella and anything else.

He gave Carlisle one short nod.

Carlisle and Esme left through the garage. A few moments later, the car pulled away. They could have moved faster on foot, but they planned to bring back more than they could carry.

For a while, nothing happened.

That was the cruel part.

Bella leaned against Edward, sipping from a cup with a straw while Rosalie kept one hand behind her back. Alice sat stiffly near the windows, her blank eyes focused on a future that still refused to show itself. Emmett was in the next room, pretending not to hover.

Edythe had drawn Leah upstairs with an offer of a massage, some rest, and a discussion of Sue's latest threatening text.

Thomas stayed near the main room.

He did not sit.

Bella noticed.

"You know," she said, voice thin but amused, "standing there like a bodyguard doesn't make me feel less breakable."

Thomas looked at her. "That's unfortunate."

She huffed. It was almost a laugh.

Edward smiled faintly, but his hand stayed on her stomach.

The smile disappeared a second later.

"What?" Rosalie asked instantly.

Edward tilted his head.

Bella went still under his hand. "Is he moving?"

"Yes," Edward said slowly. "Carefully."

Bella's eyes softened.

Then she shifted.

It was nothing.

It should have been nothing.

She reached toward the small table beside the couch, maybe for the cup, maybe for the blanket that had slipped down around her knees. Rosalie moved to help at the same time. Edward started to say her name.

Bella twisted.

There was a sound.

Not loud.

Not dramatic.

A wet, wrong crack from inside a body that had already endured too much.

Bella's face went white.

Edward froze for half a second.

Then Bella screamed.

The room exploded into motion.

Edward caught her before she could slide from the couch. Rosalie's hands were already there, too fast, too strong, trying to support without crushing. Alice gasped from across the room. Emmett appeared in the doorway. Thomas moved before he knew what he meant to do.

"What happened?" Thomas demanded.

Edward's face had gone blank with panic and focus fighting for the same space.

"Her spine," Edward said. "Or pelvis. Something broke."

Bella whimpered, one hand clawing at Edward's shirt.

Then her stomach shifted.

Hard.

Bella screamed again.

Edward's head snapped down. His eyes widened in horror.

"It's coming," he said.

Rosalie's face changed.

"No," she said. "No, Carlisle isn't here."

"We can't wait." Edward's voice was shaking now, but his hands were steady as he lifted Bella. "We can't wait."

Thomas stepped toward them. "Where?"

"The medical room," Edward said.

Emmett moved first, clearing the way. Rosalie helped Edward carry Bella, still murmuring to her like words could hold her together.

Thomas turned toward the stairs.

Leah.

She had heard the scream. Of course, she had.

Her footsteps hit the upper landing just as Edythe appeared in front of her.

"No," Edythe said.

Leah's voice cut through the house. "That's Bella."

"I know."

"Move."

"No."

Thomas looked up.

Leah stood with one hand braced against the railing, face pale, eyes wide. Edythe blocked the stairs below her, small and perfect and absolutely immovable.

"You do not need this in your head," Edythe said.

"She's family."

"And so are you."

Leah's eyes flashed. "Don't make this about me."

"It is about you," Edythe said, voice low and fierce. "It is about you and our child and what terror can do to a body that is already working too hard."

Another scream ripped through the house.

Leah flinched.

Thomas hated that sound. Hated that Leah heard it. Hated that Bella made it.

Edythe looked down at him for one brief second.

He didn't say anything.

He didn't have to.

Keep her away from this.

Edythe's expression hardened with agreement.

She turned back to Leah and softened her voice without softening her grip. "Love, listen to me. Bella has Edward. She has Thomas. She has everyone downstairs who can help. You being scared in the doorway will not save her."

Leah's mouth trembled once before she locked it down. "I can help."

"You can help by staying away."

Leah looked past her, toward Thomas.

He forced himself to meet her eyes.

"Go with Edythe," he said.

The hurt that flashed across her face nearly undid him.

Then she looked down at her own stomach.

Her hand curled over it.

"Fine," she said, but the word broke in the middle.

Edythe took her gently this time, guiding her back from the stairs.

Thomas turned away before he did something useless.

Bella needed him.

By the time he reached the medical room, Edward had Bella on the table. Rosalie was cutting away fabric with hands that moved too fast to see clearly. Bella was crying now, breathless and small, trying not to scream and failing whenever the baby moved.

"Carlisle," Edward said.

Alice had the phone already. "Calling."

Edward's eyes were black with terror.

He touched Bella's face. "Bella. Love. Listen to me."

"I'm okay," Bella whispered.

"No," Edward said, and the word came out like a wound. "No, you're not."

The baby moved again.

Bella arched.

Something tore.

Blood spread fast.

Too fast.

For one second, everyone stared at it.

Alice shook her head in panic, "I…I'm sorry. I can't be here." She put the phone down after turning the speaker function on and bolted from the room, her hand covering her mouth.

Then Edward changed.

Not emotionally. Not visibly.

But Thomas saw the decision happen.

The husband vanished behind the surgeon because the husband could not survive what had to happen next.

"Hold her," Edward said.

Thomas was there before Rosalie could answer.

He caught Bella's shoulders carefully, keeping her still without pressing too hard. Her skin felt too hot and too cold at the same time. Her eyes rolled toward him, unfocused.

"Thomas," she whispered.

"I'm here," he said.

Her fingers caught his wrist. Weak. Human. Breakable.

"Don't let him stop…No matter what happens to me!!!" she said.

Thomas's throat closed.

Edward heard her.

His face twisted once.

Then he reached for the scalpel.

The blade cut through Bella's skin.

For one terrible second, Thomas thought it might actually work.

Then the scalpel struck the amniotic sac.

The metal snapped.

Edward stared at the broken handle in his hand.

The sac gleamed beneath the blood, pale and impossible, too tough for human tools.

Rosalie made a low sound in her throat.

Edward threw the useless scalpel aside.

His mouth opened.

Thomas understood a second before it happened.

Edward bent over Bella's stomach and bit.

Bella screamed.

Thomas held her shoulders and hated himself for it.

The smell of blood thickened in the air.

Not the sealed blood Bella drank from a cup. Not clean bags from a hospital cooler. This was fresh and human and everywhere.

Rosalie froze.

Thomas saw it because he was watching everything.

Her hands stopped moving.

Her eyes went black.

For one impossible second, she looked confused. Almost offended. Like her own body had betrayed her.

Then her gaze dropped to Bella's open stomach.

"Rosalie," Edward snarled without looking up.

She didn't answer.

Her hand twitched toward the blood.

Thomas moved.

He released Bella only because Edward had shifted close enough to brace her. In the same motion, Thomas caught Rosalie by the shoulder and waist.

She turned on him, teeth bared, but too late.

He threw her through the wall.

Wood cracked. Plaster burst. Rosalie vanished into the next room with a crash that shook the house.

No one spoke.

Thomas stepped back to Bella's side.

Edward did not look up.

"Good," he said, voice barely human.

Then his hands disappeared into blood.

Bella's screams weakened.

That was worse.

Screaming meant she was still fighting. The silence that followed made Thomas's chest go cold.

"Bella," he said sharply.

Her eyes fluttered.

Edward worked faster.

There was a tearing sound.

Then a new sound.

Small.

Wet.

Alive.

Edward lifted the baby from Bella's body.

For half a second, the room stopped.

She was impossibly tiny and not tiny at all. Covered in blood. Warm-skinned. Dark hair plastered to her head. Eyes closed tight. Mouth open in a furious little cry that sounded too strong for something just born.

Edward stared at her.

His face broke.

"Bella," he said, voice cracking. "Bella, look. It's a girl!"

Bella's eyes opened halfway again.

Edward lowered the baby carefully, desperately, like this one moment mattered more than the blood, more than the broken bones, more than the death already reaching for her.

Bella's hands twitched.

Thomas shifted closer, helping support her shoulders as Edward laid the child against her chest.

Bella looked down.

The baby quieted.

A sound came out of Bella that was almost a sob and almost a laugh.

"Renesmee," she whispered.

Edward's face crumpled.

The baby's tiny hand pressed against Bella's skin.

Bella smiled.

It was weak. It was broken. It was everything.

For one second, she looked alive in a way she had not for weeks.

Thomas understood then why Edward had done it. Why Bella had fought so hard. Why this moment had to happen even if it killed her.

Bella needed to see what she had chosen.

She needed to know.

Then her heart stuttered.

Edward's head snapped toward her chest.

The baby cried again.

Bella's eyes rolled back.

"No," Edward said.

The word was quiet.

Then Edward's voice filled the silence.

"No. No, Bella."

He lifted Renesmee away from her with shaking hands and turned to Thomas.

"Take her," Edward said.

Thomas stared at him. "Edward…"

"Take her!" He snarled.

Thomas took the child.

He had fought wolves. Faced vampires. Stood before those who considered themselves gods and monsters and whatever else the world had decided to throw at him.

Nothing had ever made him feel as unprepared as the weight of that baby in his hands.

She was hot. Slick. Stronger than she should have been. Her tiny fingers opened and caught his thumb.

The grip actually put pressure on the joint.

Thomas looked down at her, stunned.

Behind him, Edward was already moving, venom ready, hands shaking as he fought to save Bella's life.

Thomas held his niece against his chest and backed out of the room.

The hall seemed too quiet after the medical room.

That did not last.

Edward's voice broke behind him.

"Bella!"

Then the sound of movement. Metal. Snapping plastic. Something hitting the floor. Edward swearing in a language Thomas didn't know.

Thomas tightened his hold on Renesmee without meaning to.

She made a small sound against his chest.

Not quite a cry.

More like complaint.

"I know," Thomas muttered, though he had no idea what he knew.

She shifted in his arms, too strong, too aware, her little hand still locked around his thumb.

Thomas stared down at her.

Her eyes opened.

Brown.

Bella's brown.

That hit harder than he expected.

For one second, he could not move.

Then something shifted in the next room.

Thomas looked toward the broken wall.

Rosalie stood there, covered in plaster dust and splinters, one hand braced against the shattered frame. Her eyes were still black, but her face had changed.

Control.

Shame.

Horror.

She looked at the baby in Thomas's arms and stopped.

Thomas shifted his stance, putting his body between her and Renesmee.

Rosalie saw it.

Her mouth tightened.

"I'm in control," she said.

Thomas did not answer.

Rosalie took one slow step forward and stopped again, waiting.

"She needs to be cleaned," Rosalie said, voice rough. "Wrapped. Checked."

Thomas looked down at the baby.

Renesmee stared back at him with Bella's eyes.

He had no idea what to do.

Rosalie noticed. Of course she did.

"I won't touch Bella," she said. "I won't go back in that room unless Edward calls me. But the baby needs care."

Thomas held her gaze.

Rosalie did not look away.

Finally, he nodded once.

"Slowly," he said.

Rosalie moved slowly.

For Rosalie, that meant almost human.

She found towels. Warm water. A clean blanket. Her hands were steady now, but Thomas watched every movement. He kept Renesmee close, only letting Rosalie clean one part of her at a time.

Rosalie did not argue.

That was how Thomas knew she understood exactly how close she had come.

The baby quieted under her hands.

Renesmee.

The name still felt strange in Thomas's head.

Strange, and somehow already permanent. {Too much of a mouthful… Ren, it is.}

Rosalie brushed dark hair back from the baby's forehead with a gentleness that made the earlier moment harder to fit with the person in front of him.

"She's beautiful," Rosalie whispered.

Thomas looked down.

She was.

That was the problem.

She was beautiful and impossible and born from a room full of blood where Bella might still be dying.

A low growl came from outside.

Thomas turned sharply.

Rosalie froze.

The growl came again, closer this time.

Jacob.

Thomas felt his body prepare before his thoughts caught up. His shoulders squared. His grip shifted around Renesmee. Not tighter. Safer.

The front door slammed open.

Jacob came in human, barefoot, shaking, wearing only cutoffs like he had shifted back too fast and dressed even faster. His face was twisted with grief and rage so raw it barely looked like him.

His eyes went past Thomas.

Toward the room where Bella lay.

Then they dropped to the baby.

Renesmee made a small sound.

Jacob's expression changed.

Not softened.

Not calmed.

Stopped.

Everything in him stopped.

Thomas saw the intent vanish from his face like someone had cut a cord.

Jacob had come into the house ready to kill Edward's child, then die.

One look later, he could not even breathe.

Thomas did not move.

Jacob stared at Renesmee.

His face went empty first. Then stunned. Then broken in a way Thomas had no name for.

The air changed.

Thomas had felt Alpha command. Pack bonds. Imprints. The deep, invisible pull that tied one life to another, whether anyone wanted it or not.

This was different from watching it from inside the pack mind.

This was worse.

Because Jacob Black had walked into the room with murder in his eyes.

And in the space of one heartbeat, the universe took the knife out of his hand and replaced it with a chain around his soul…And Jacob didn't care.

He fell to his knees.